After its hugely successful beta, Battlefield 6 has been riding a high that not every modern first-person shooter can claim. After Battlefield 2042 defined a new low point for the series due to an exceedingly poor launch and a slow recovery time, Battlefield 6 has been positioned as a potential critical turning point for the franchise, and the popularity of its open beta has only helped its cause. In one way or another, October 10 is going to be a big day for Battlefield, when the seventh main entry for EA and Dice's renowned first-person shooter franchise finally arrives.
What kind of big day that will be is still in question, though, as other Battlefield games and many titles like them haven't always had the best launch days. In fact, Battlefield 2042 was chock-full of problems at launch, with crashes, freezes, frame rate drops, and general instability being chief among them. Those issues are ultimately what contributed to Battlefield 2042 being unable to maintain engagement from players, and it actually wasn't until Battlefield 6's open beta that 2042 saw a resurgence. Now, the latest Battlefield game faces the challenge of not repeating past mistakes, and that might be easier said than done.
Battlefield 6's Launch Day Risks Could Spoil the Hype
Other Big Launches Crashed Under the Pressure
As an online shooter, Battlefield 6 is inherently prone to one of the biggest problems in the online multiplayer game arena: server issues. Many other games over the years have encountered the very same roadblocks, and it could be argued that, 9 times out of 10, an online game is going to be hit with problems on day one, all thanks to server instability. Overwatch 2 is a good recent example of this, as it infamously held players in queues and mid-match disconnects.
Going further back just to show how long these problems have persisted, SimCity's 2013 reboot fell flat with its always-online model, forcing EA to disable some features just to stabilize its servers. Even modern franchises like Destiny and Call of Duty have been hit with server issues during resets, expansions, and sequel launches.
In short, it's expected. It might even be beneficial for players to boot up an online game on its launch day with the expectation that they might not even get to play that day. Unfortunately, that might also be the case for Battlefield 6 on October 10. If players temper their expectations well enough upon launching the game, maybe it will surprise them in a positive way rather than a negative. With its massive player counts, vehicles, and destruction systems, Battlefield 6 is especially vulnerable to the strain caused by launch-day hype for online games — not because the game isn't ready, but because the servers might not be.
The Campaign May Not Be the Safety Net It Needs to Be
Of course, players might see Battlefield 6's single-player campaign as a safety net for those issues, as they would at least be able to play through it while they wait for things to stabilize on the online side. With that, they could explore the mechanics of the game and learn its pacing without the threat of server issues. However, respected insider Tom Henderson has already suggested the campaign may not live up to expectations. Early impressions from creators like BigFryTV echo this sentiment, calling it unpolished with weak AI, and "the weakest part of the game by far." If that ends up being true, players wanting to bide time in Battlefield 6's campaign may be in for a major disappointment.
Of course, it isn't guaranteed that Battlefield 6 will encounter server issues — or any problems, for that matter — on launch day, and that would certainly be the best case scenario. Again, though, it might be best for those expecting to play Battlefield 6 on launch day to be prepared for the worst. That way, if the best does happen, it will be even better.
